


Mourning and laughter

by Dragonchild627



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, Jack's Funeral, Snowball Fight, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 08:22:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6462880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonchild627/pseuds/Dragonchild627
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack doesn't like seeing the brown-haired girl cry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mourning and laughter

She was crying. Most of the villagers gathered in the churchyard were, but Jack only had eyes for the young, brown-haired girl flanked by two adults. _Parents_ , the word came from some recess of his mind. The man ( _Father_ ) had one arm wrapped around the woman ( _Mother_ ) beside him and the other on the girl’s shoulder. They stood in front of a closed box ( _Coffin)_ and a man wearing a robe ( _Priest_ ) who was talking about the loss of a bright young man who had brought laughter into their lives.

But Jack only had eyes for the girl. She shouldn’t be crying. She had a face that was made for laughter and smiles. He wanted her to smile. Jack frowned. Why did he feel this way? Where was this coming from? His eyes scanned across the crowd easily picking out the wailing children, but passing over their misty-eyed parents.

Maybe it wasn’t just her, Jack pondered. He didn’t like seeing any of these children cry. They should be having fun, smiling, laughing, and enjoying themselves.

The priest had stopped speaking. Men stepped forward to lower the coffin into the ground. The brown-haired girl turned and buried her face into her mother’s skirts. Jack could still hear as her sobs became harsher.

As dirt was shoveled into the hole, the woman turned towards the man, trapping the girl between them.

Jack’s fingers twitched as he watched this. He wished he could do something to make them feel better.

 

\---

 

A few days later, a stone block was placed on the _grave_. The brown-haired girl and her parents came. The woman and the brown-haired girl had tears falling down their faces as they watched.

Jack watched them cry and felt the same twinge of discomfort that he had felt before.

The family moved forward once the stone was placed. The girl ran her fingers over the words traced there and whispered something that was beyond Jack’s ability to hear.

When they left, Jack floated down and read the words carved into the stone.

_Jackson Overland  
Beloved Son, Brother, and Friend_

Jack traced his fingers over the name.

How odd, he mused. For the name to be so similar to his own.

\---

As the weeks passed, Jack watched as children would approach the brown-haired girl as she went through the village with her mother. They would ask if she was okay. They would tell her that they missed Jack. They would ask if she wanted to play. Sometimes they would go to the little wooden structure ( _House_ ) that she lived in to ask her the same questions.

For weeks, the brown-haired girl would say that she didn’t want to play and cling to her mother, or go back inside. Then, one day, Jack watched her hesitantly accept an offer to go and play with the other children.

Jack followed the children out into a field and watched as they formed large balls that they stacked upon one another and called “snowmen”. He watched as they lay down in the snow and wave their arms and legs to make “angels”. He watched as they formed small balls ( _snowballs_ ) in their hands and throw them at each other.

Jack formed a snowball of his own. He looked around at the children who were haphazardly throwing the balls at one another and saw the brown-haired girl off to the side. Her hands were clenched in front of her chest. She looked like she wanted to join in, but was too anxious to do so.

Jack looked down at the snowball in his hands and laughed. He looked back up at the brown-haired girl. A smile stretched across his face and he started inching over. When he was in range, Jack threw his snowball at her.

Part of him was surprised when it splattered across her face.  The girl let out a started laugh and quickly covered her mouth. Jack grinned as she looked around wildly, perhaps wondering if anyone had noticed. The brown-haired girl looked back to the group of children. As she bent down and gathered up her own ball of snow Jack moved behind her. She stood, took aim, and hesitated.

“Throw it,” Jack said in her ear.

The brown-haired girl inhaled sharply and threw the ball at one of the other girls. Shocked, the girl turned and then grinned when she saw who had thrown it.

The brown-haired girl was drawn into the snowball fight. Jack threw his own projectiles as he watched her laugh and play with the other children.

Something settled in him. It felt right.

 

\----

 

_300 years later_ Jack stood in the old churchyard. He knelt before an old, worn-down stone. Despite its age, he could still make out the words carved on it.

_Jackson Overland  
Beloved Son, Brother, and Friend_

Jack heard familiar footsteps behind him, then warmth on his shoulder

“I watched my own funeral,” he said. “I watched my parents, _my sister_ , grieve for me.”

Jack turned to give the figure behind him a watery smile. “I helped them get past it though. I gave my sister something to laugh about. And she gave our parents something to smile about.”

“Oh, Jack,” the figure said, wrapping warm arms around the winter spirit as he broke down sobbing.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> So... I haven't written a fanfiction since 2013....it feels a lot longer than that. O_o This is the first work that I've posted on here and my first work in the RotG fandom.  
> I left the identity of whomever is comforting Jack up to interpretation so that readers can make it their favorite romantic or non-romantic paring. Which I usually hate, but decided to give a try.  
> Let me know what you think!


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